Openness and Transparency Help Drive the ‘Trust Economy’

Transparency is key to authentically connecting with consumers, but are companies sharing all that their consumers want to know?

Julia Wilson, VP, Global Responsibility & Sustainability, Nielsen, recently sat down with Martin Whittaker, CEO of JUST Capital, to pick up a conversation about the connection points among social and environmental issues, opportunities for corporate impact and investment, as well as how consumer preferences—and a focus on trust and access to information—are driving business forward.

“Trust of large corporations is still very low; we see that in our own work and in the work of others,” said Whittaker. “We’re in the process of rebuilding that trust—not just with consumers but for the public at large. I think companies are aware of the need to invest in their social license to do business, [and] that companies will want to know that the information that is being used by consumers to make decisions is good information. So I think there’s going to be a lot of focus on the quality of data, the meaning of information, where is it coming from…It’s like anything, to build trust, you have to have that sense of openness [and] transparency.”